Yarn cleaner



Dec. 15, 1925. 1,565,850

L. B. HAsBRoUcK YARN CLEANER FiledAug. 17. 1922 aumento@ Patented Dec.15, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS B. HASBROUCK, OF ELMIRA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ECLIPSE TEXTILE DE-VICES, INC., OF ELMIRA HEIGHTS, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

YARN CLEANER.

Application led August 17, 1922. Serial No. 582,384.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS B. I-IAsBRoUcK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Elmira, in the county of Chemung and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in YarnCleaners, fully described and represented in the followingspecification, and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thesame.

This invention relates to yarn cleaners for eliminating from yarnimpurities such as parts of seeds, parts of stems, specks, and otherparticles, as well as slubs and knots.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple device capable ofremoving impurities from yarn and of continuously discharging theimpurities, as well as any fibrous matter removed from the yarn withthem, without the use of any mechanically driven parts.

A further object of the invention is to provide a yarn cleaner which mayautomatically adjust itself to yarns of different di a-meters.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a yarn cleanerwhich serves, also, as a tension device, so that no tension device needbe used with it.

Other objects and advantages of the invention are hereinafter explained.

A. yarn cleaner embodying the invention in the form which I now considerbest is provided with a series of inclined blades having cleaning edgeslying in a common plane and with a plate which has a fiat surfaceopposed to the cleaning edges of the blades and is gently urged towardthe blades, either by gravity or by means of a spring. The yarn is drawnbetween the cleaning edges of the blades and the flat surface of theplate in a direction transverse to the cleaning edges.

In order that the invention may clearly be understood, I will describein detail a yarn cleaner embodying the invention which is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view ofthe cleaner withthe cover plates in operative position;

F ig'. 2 is a plan view of a cleaner showing the cover plates thrownback to expose the cleaning blades;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the cleaner sectioned on the line 3 3 of Fig.1;

Fig. 1 is an enlarged transverse section of the cleaner taken on theline 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the cleaning blades.

Ihe cleaner shown in the drawings is adapted to operate upon a travelingyarn which is being drawn from a bobbin or other supply into a windingor spooling or other machine. The cleaner may be conveniently secured toa portion of the frame of any such machine, and for this purpose theremay be secured to the supporting bar 10 of the cleaner a stud 11containing a hole and provided with a set screw 12. It will beunderstood, however, that the cleaner may be mounted in any desiredmanner and will operate upon any traveling yarn, regardless of thenature of the machine into which the yarn is being drawn.

The frame of the cleaner on which its operative parts are supportedconsists, in the form illustrated, of a straight supporting bar 10. Thisbar may conveniently be made rectangular in cross-section, as shown inthe drawings. As hereinafter explained, a traveling yarn is, in theoperation of the cleaner, drawn through the cleaner in a directionsubstantially parallel to the bar 10. As the form and arrangement of theoperative parts are, to a certain extent, dependent upon the directionin which the yarn is drawn through the cleaner, I shall for conveniencerefer to the end 14 of the bar 10 as its front end, since this end ofthe bar is at the end of the cleaner from which the yarn enters thecleaner. In like manner, I shall use the word front to define parts, `orsurfaces, which are located near, or which face toward, the end of thecleaner at which the yarn enters the cleaner.

A plurality of cleaning blades 20 project outwardly from one side 16 ofthe bar 10. These blades are provided with cleaning edges 21 which liein a common plane. In the form illustrated, this common plane is theplane of the upper side 17 of the bar 10.

Each blade has a narrow edge surface 22 which lies in this plane. Theblades 20 lie in parallel planes which are oblique to the side surface16 of the bar from which the blades project, and oblique to the commonplane of their cleaning edges. The inclination of the blades to the sidesurface 16 of the bar is such that the inner end of the cleaning edge 2lof each blade is in front of the outer end of said edge. The inclinationof the blades to the common plane in which their cleaning edges 2l lieis such that the front surfaces 23 of the blades lie at oblique anglesto this plane, while their rear surfaces 24 lie at acute angles to theplane. It will be noted that in consequence of this inclination of theblades, the front surface 23 and the edge surface 22 of each bladeintersect at an acute angle to form the cleaning edge 2l of the blade.

In order that the exact inclination of the blades may be understood, Iwish to note that, throughout this application, when reference is madeto the angle between the surface of an element and a surface which isnot a part of this element, it is to be understood that the angle ismeasured through space outside the element, while, when reference ismade to the angle between two surfaces of the same element, it is to beunderstood that the angle is measured through the element.

The blades 2O may be secured to the bar il() in any desired manner. Inthe form illustrated, each blade is provided at its inner end with aflange 26, which is secured against the side surface 16 of the bar bymeans of a screw 27.

Means are provided for guiding a traveling yarn across the cleaningedges 21 of the blades 20 in a direction substantially paralel to thebar l0, and, in consequence, oblique to the cleaning edges. These meansinclude a front guide 30 secured to the bar l0 near its front end 14,and a rear guide 3l secured at the rear end l5 of the bar 10. rIhe frontvguide 30 is mounted on a bracket 32 which is secured to the bar 10 by ascrew The guide itself extends approximately horizontally. It contains atapering entrance slot 34, through which the yarn is drawn from below.The inner end of this slot is in the same plane as the cleaning edges ofthe blades, while the portion of the guide 30 inside the end of the slot34 is slightly below this plane. The rear guide 3l provides asubstantially horizontal surface 35 lying in the plane of the cleaningedges of the blades and an upward projection 36 at the outer end of thishorizontal surface.

In addition to the front and rear guides, it is usually desirable toprovide intermediate guides. The number of such guides which isnecessary depends upon the length of the bar l0 and the number ofcleaning blades. In .the form illustrated in the drawings, there are twointermediate guides, which have the form of pins 36 projecting upwardlyfrom supporting arms 37 which project laterally from the bar l0 betweencertain of the cleaning blades. The upper surfaces of the bars 37 arepreferably located below the plane of the cleaning edges of the blades,so that the yarn does not come into Contact with them.

The yarn cleaner is provided with one or more plates providing, when inoperative position, smooth flat surfaces opposed to the cleaning edges2l and the edge surfaces 22 of the blades 20. In the form illustrated,these plates serve as covers for the cleaner and comprise a front coverplate 40 and a rear cover plate 4l, each of which has a smooth flatsurface 42.

The plates are mounted so that their smooth, flat surfaces 42 are freeto move towards or away from the cleaning edges of the blades. In theform illustrated, this result is .secured by providing each of theplates 40, 4l, with an arm 45, which is secured by means of a pivot pin46 to the outer end of one of the supporting arms 37. The pivot pins 46are parallel to the bar lO and are most desirably positioned beyond theouter ends of the blades 2O and substantially in the plane of thecleaning edges 2l of the blades. rIhe plates 40, 4l are each providedwith a hole 47 which fits over one of the pins 86 when the plates are intheir operative position. In order to permit free movement of the platestoward or away from the blades, the plates are allowed to iloat on theyarn by making the holes 48 in the arms slightly larger than the pivotpins 46, and the holes 47 of sufficient size to fit loosely over thepins 36.

It should be noted that although the plates are free to move toward oraway from the blades, the plates are, nevertheless, restrained againstmovement longitudinally of the yarn or across the cleaning edges of theblades. Such movement is prevented both by the heads of the pivot pins46 and by the enw gageme-nt of the holes 47 with the pins 36. Inconsequence there is substantially no relative movement between theplates and the blades during the operation of the cleaner.

Means are provided for yieldably urging the smooth, fiat surfaces 42 ofthe plates towards the edges 2l of the blades. In the form illustrated,such means is the mass of the plates which is drawn toward the blades bythe force of gravity. It is apparent, however, that other means may beused for pressing the plates towards the blades. and that if mechanicalmeans are used for this purpose, the cleaner need not be placed so thatthe plates are on top. It is desirable to regulate the force with whichthe smooth surfaces 42 of the plates are urged toward the edges 21 ofthe blades, and for this purpose the plates 40, 41 may each be providedwith an upwardly projecting pin 43, about which any desired number ofperforated weight-disks 44 may be placed.

In order to facilitate the insertion of the yarn under the plates, sothat the cleaner may be threaded without opening the plates, the edgesof these plates which lie nearest the inner ends of the blades areprovided with undercut, beveled surfaces '49.

The yarn cleaner illustrated includes means for preventing large slubsor knots from being drawn into it. For this purpose, there is providedat the front end of the bar a blade 50 which is, in general, similar tocleaning blades 20, except that it is inclined so that its acute edge 51extends nearly perpendicularly from the bar 10. The front surface 52 ofthe blade 50 is inclined in the same direction as the front surfaces ofthe blades but to a less extent. The front plate is provided with abeveled surface 54, which intersects the flat surface 42 of the blade inan acute edge 55 which is opposed to, and parallel to, the edge 51 ofthe blade 50, when the plate 40 is in its operative position.

The use and operation of the cleaner which has been described is asfollows:

The plates 40, 41 are usually kept closed, so that before the cleaner isthreaded these plates rest upon the edge surfaces 22 of the cleaningblades or upon the upper side surface 17 of the bar 10. The cleaner isthreaded by inserting a yarn A in the slot 34 of the front guide 80,passing the yarn around the cleaner and over the stud 11, and drawing itinto the corner` between the horizontal surface 35` and the projection36 of the rear guide 31. The yarn is thus brought into contact with thebeveled edges 49 of the plates 40, 4l, and raises the platessuiiiciently to pass under their fiat surfaces 42. As the yarn is drawntight, it extends substantially in a straight line across the cleaningedges 21 and edge surfaces 22 of the blades 20. This position of theyarn is best illustrated by the full lines A in Fig. 2, although it isto be understood, of course, that the plates are closed as in Fig. 1when the yarn is drawn into this position. The yarn is gently pushedagainst the blades and retained under tension by the pressure of theplates 40, 41.

After the cleaner has been threaded, the yarn is drawn through thecleaner by a winding or other machine not shown in the drawings.' Specksand other impurities projecting from the yarn are turned downwardly by atwisting of the yarn caused by the contact of the flat surfaces 42 ofthe plates with the yarn. The specks and other r particles are detachedfrom the yarn by the scraping action of the cleaning edges 21 of theblades. The scraping action of the cleaning edges is increased by alateral movement of` the yarn which results from drawing the specksagainst these edges. Thus, when the cleaner is in operation, the path oftravel of the yarn through it is continually changing between thestraight line A (F ig. 2) and the curved lines A (Fig. 2). The pins 36serve to prevent the yarn from being drawn over the outer ends of theblades when large ,specks come in contact with the blades.

Some of the detached particles are directed downwardly and out of thecleaner by the inclined front surfaces 23 of the blades, while themajority of the particles, as well as the fibrous matter removed fromthe yarn with them, travel outwardly along the cleaning edges 21 of theblades and are continuously discharged at the outer ends of the blades.

Any large slubs or knots on the yarn are caught by the opposed edges 51,of the blade 5() and the front plate. The beveled edge 54 of this plateprevents slubs or knots from raising this plate. If a slub is looselyattached to the yarn, it is detached by the edges 51 and 55. When,however, a

firmly attached slub or a knot is drawn against these edges, the yarn isbroken, so that the operator has notice of the presence of the slub orknot and may break it out and re-tie the yarn.

The yarn cleaner which has been described possesses a number ofadvantages in addition to Iits simplicity of construction which isapparent from the drawings and which makes it possible to manufacturethe cleaner at small cost. Thus, for example, the cleaner automaticallyadjusts itself to yarns of differing diameters as the plates 40, 41close upon the yarn and urge it against the blades, regardless of itsdianietfr. Furthermore, the plates retain the yarn under sufficienttension to enable it to be wound properly, so that no tension deviceneed be used in connection with the cleaner. Any desired tension may beobtained by increasing or decreasing the number of weight-disks 44placed on the plates.

Vhile I wish it clearly understood that my invention is by no meanslimited to the particular form and arrangement of parts which I havedescribed, I will, nevertheless, point out a number of specialadvantages which are obtained through the use of various features of theembodiment illustrated which of themselves constitute a part of myinvention.

Drawing the yarn between a cleaning edge and a smooth surface opposedthereto. that is to say, a smooth surface which lies opposite to saidedge and extends an appreciable distance at each side of said edge,

Cil

not only effectively removes impurities from the yarn, but alsofacilitates; the discharge of these particles from the cleaner. Thisseems to be because the smooth surface prevents the fibrous material,which is inevitably removed with the specks, from forming a ring aroundthe yarn in front of the cleaning edge. I have thus altogethereliminated one of the principal difficulties to the discharge of thematerial removed from the yarn which has been encountered in cleaners inwhich the yarn is drawn between two opposed edges.

Positioning the cleaning edges of the blades obliquely to the line oftravel of the yarn not only assists ,in discharging' the removedparticles from the cleaner', but also causes a slight sidewise movementof the yarn in its passage through the cleaner, which increases thescraping action of the edges and prevents the grooving of the edges bythe yarn.

The fact that the plates are retained against motion longitudinal of theyarn, so that the yarn is drawn along their flat surfaces, has beenfound to cause a twisting of the yarn which turns the particlesdownwardly in position to be scraped off by the cleaning edges of theblades.

The hinging of the plates prevents them from becoming detached from theframe of the cleaner, while, at the same time, facilitating access tothe cleaning blades. Furthermore, the slight tipping of the r' plates,when the yarn is drawn under them,

which results from such hinging, and which may alternatively be causedby weighting the plates so that their centre of gravity yis outside theline of travel of the yarn, has been found to facilitate the dischargeof the particles removed from the yarn.

I shall, however, not attempt to catalogue all the advantages obtainedby the use of my invention.

lVhat is claimed is:

l. A yarn cleaner comprising a member providing a plurality of cleaningedges located at one side of the yarn, and a member having a smoothsurface opposite said edges at the other side of the yarn, said membersbeing held against relative movement during the operation of the cleanerand positioned so close to each other that the edges contact with oneside of the yarn and scrape impurities therefrom while the smoothsurface contacts with the other side of the yarn and prevents fibrousmatter scraped from the yarn by the edges from entwining about the yarn.

2. In a yarn cleaner for removing impurities from a traveling yarn, thecombination of a member providing an edge transverse to the yarn and incontact with one side of the yarn, rigid means restraining said edgeagainst movement in the direction of travel of the yarn, and a memberproviding' a substantially flat smooth surface in contact with theopposite side of the yarn, lying opposite said edge, extending in frontof said edge and parallel to and in contact with the yarn for a distanceas great as several times the diameter of the yarn, and restrainedagainst movement across said edge.

3. In a yarn cleaner, a member providing an edge, a member providing asmooth surface opposed to said edge and extending in front of said edgea distance as great as several times the diameter of the yarn, aconnection between said members permitting relative approaching andseparating movements between said surface and said edge and preventingmovement of said surface across said edge, means for guiding a travelingyarn between said smooth surface and said edge in a direction transversto said edge, and means for yieldably urging said surface toward saidedge. i

4. In a yarn cleaner, a member viding a smooth surface, viding an edgeopposed to said smooth surface, a. connection between said memberspermitting relative approaching and separating movements between saidsurface and said edge and preventing all other movement between them,means for guiding a traveling yarn between said smooth surface and saidedge in a direction oblique to the edge, and means for yieldably urgingsaid surface toward said edge. Y

5. A yarn cleaner, comprising a cleaning blade having a narrow edgesurface and a front surface intersecting said edge surface so as to forman acute cleaning edge, a plate having a smooth surface opposed to theedge surface of said blade and extending in front of the cleaning edgethereof, and a connection between said blade and said plate permittingrelative approaching and separating movements between said edge surfaceand said smooth surface and preventing all other relative imivementbetween said surfaces, means for yieldably urging said smooth surfacetoward said edge surface, and means for guiding a traveling yarn betweensaid smooth surface and said blade in a direction transverse to saidcleaning edge.

G. A yarn cleaner, comprising a member providing a smooth surface, amember providing an edge opposed to said smooth surface, said membersbeing mounted so as to permit relative approaching and separatingmovements of said smooth surface and said edge about an axis transverseto said edge, means for yieldably urging said smooth surface toward saidedge, and means for proa member proguiding a traveling yarn between saidsurface and said edge to said edge.

in a direction transverse llt) lil

ill

klll

7. A yarn cleaner, comprising a member providing a smooth surface, amember providing an edge opposed to said smooth surface, a connectionbetween said members permitting a relative movement between said smoothsurface and said edge about an axis oblique to said edge, means foryieldably urging said members together, and means for guiding atraveling yarn between said surface and said edgel in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of said turning movement. h

8. A yarn cleaner, comprising a plurality of cleaning members havingcleaning edges lying in a common plane, means for guiding` a travelingyarn across the edges of said members, a member having a flat surfacesubstantially parallel to the common plane of said cleaning edges, meansfor yieldably urging said flat surface toward said edges, and means forrestraining said cleaning members and said flat surface against relativemovement in the plane of said flat surface.

9. A yarn cleaner, comprising means providing a plurality of cleaningedges located at one side of the yarn and each extending transversely tothe yarn, and a member having a smooth surface opposite said edges atthe other side of the yarn, said member being held against movementacross said cleaning edges and positioned so close to said edges thatthe edges contact with one side of the yarn and scrape im puritiestherefrom while the flat surface contacts with the other side of theyarn and prevents fibrous matter scraped from the yarn by the edges fromentwining about the yarn.

10. A yarn cleaner, comprising a plurality of transverse blades havingcleaning edges lying in a common plane, means for guiding a travelingyarn across the edges of said blades, and a member having a flat surfacesubstantially parallel to the common plane of said edges, lo iated atthe opposite side of the yarn and so close to said edges that one sideof the yarn is in contact with said edges while the opposite sidethereof is in contact with said flat surface, and held against movementin the plane of its flat surface.

11. A yarn cleaner, comprising a plurality of cleaning blades havingcleaning edges lying in a common horizontal plane and front surfacesinclined at an obtuse angle to said plane, means for guiding a travelingyarn transversely across the cleaning edges of said blades, a platehaving a flat lower surface resting on the yarn, and means forrestraining said plate against movement across the edges of the cleaningblades.

12. In a yarn cleaner, the combination of two members located atopposite sides of the yarn, yieldably held against separating movement,and having aligned front edges in contact with the yarn, and frontsurfaces extending at an obtuse angle to the yarn.

13. A yarn cleaner, comprising a support, a plurality of cleaning bladesextending from one side of said support and having cleaning edges lyingin a common plane, a plate having a fiat surface opposed to saidcleaning edges, means for yieldably urging said flat surface toward saidcleaning edges, means for varying the force by which said surface isurged toward said edges and means for preventing movement of said flatsurface across said cleaning edges.

14. A yarn cleaner, comprising a supporting bar, a plurality of cleaningblades projecting from one side of said supporting bar and havingcleaning edges lying in a coinmon plane, said blades being inclined sothat they lie in parallel planes oblique both to said common plane andto the side of the bar from which they project, a plate having a fiatsurface opposed to the cleaning edges of the blades, and means foryieldably urging said surface toward said cleaning edges.

15. A yarn cleaner, comprising a support, a plurality of cleaning bladesprojecting from said support and having cleaning edges lying in a commonplane, and a plate having a flat surface opposed to the cleaning edgesof the blades and mounted so that it is free to turn about an axis lyingin said common plane and located further from said support than theouter ends of the blades.

16. A yarn cleaner, comprising a supporting bar, a plurality of cleaningblades projecting from one side of the bar and having cleaning edgeslying in a common plane, and a plate having a flat surface opposed tosaid cleaning edges and mounted so that it is free to turn about an axislying in said common plane and parallel to said bar.

17. A yarn cleaner, comprising a supporting bar, a plurality of cleaningblades extending outwardly from the one side of the bar having cleaningedges lying in a common plane and oblique to said bar, a projectionextending outwardly from said side of the bar beyond the outer ends ofsaid cleaning blades, and a plate hinged to said projection. V

1.8. A yarn cleaner, comprising a support- .ing bar, a plurality ofcleaning blades extending outwardly from one side of said bar and havingcleaning edges lying in a common plane, and a plate resting on thecleaning edges of said blades and having at one edge an inwardlyinclined surface to facilitate drawing a yarn between the plate and thecleaning edges of the blades.

19. A yarn cleaner, comprising a plurality of cleaning blades havingcleaning edges lying in a common plane, a member Viding un edge opposedto said smooth surface, and guiding members positioned to guide atraveling yarn between said l'lat surface and said edge in a directionoblique to said edge, said guiding members being spaced apart from eachother so as to permit lateral movement of the portion of the yarnbetween them.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 20 my hand.

LOUIS B. HASBROUCK.

